Anti-Gun WA Ballot Initiative Receives Boost From Billionaires

The war-chest in support of Washington’s I-1491 has swelled to over $3.5 million, according to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission. The 21-page ballot initiative would allow family members and law enforcement to request courts temporarily revoke an individual’s Second Amendment rights for up to one year without due process.

You can tell a lot about a ballot initiative based on who’s bankrolling it, and I-1491 is no different—out of the $3,499,263 raised so far, only $130,137 has come in the form of “small contributions.” The vast majority has come from large cash or in-kind donations from billionaire philanthropists and anti-gun groups, including venture capitalist Nicholas Hanauer ($650,000), Microsoft co-founders Steve Ballmer ($500,000) and Paul Allen ($250,000), and philanthropist Ann Wyckoff ($100,000). Gabby Giffords’ so-called “Americans for Responsible Solutions” group added another quarter-million, while Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown contributed over $584,000.

If this list looks familiar, it’s because many habitually fund anti-freedom ballot initiatives, hoping to bypass Congress and mislead voters into approving ill-advised measures aligning with their gun-hating ideology. Washington state voters, let these anti-gunners know your freedom can’t be bought by voting NO on I-1491.

The World’s Largest Police Union Endorses Trump

Trump returned the FOP’s 12-page questionnaire on time and met with FOP representatives. The Clinton campaign, on the other hand, was weeks late returning the questionnaire and did not meet with the FOP.

“Obviously, this is an unusual election,” said FOP President Chuck Canterbury. “We have a candidate who declined to seek an endorsement and a candidate without any record as an elected official. Mr. Trump, however, has seriously looked at the issues facing law enforcement today. … He’s made a real commitment to America’s law enforcement and we’re proud to make a commitment to him and his campaign by endorsing his candidacy today.”

Trump expressed strong support for the Second Amendment, a position in line with the results of PoliceOne.com’s survey of cops. FOP Executive Director Jim Pasco said Trump “made commitments to us that he would support law enforcement if he was elected, and keep our views in mind.”

Strict D.C. Gun Laws To Be Challenged In Federal Appeals Court

On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the D.C. federal Court of Appeals heard challenges to the District’s firearms laws, which place rigid restrictions on concealed-carry permits. Currently, applicants for a CCP license must demonstrate a “good reason to fear injury,” resulting in a paltry 89 permits issued since a federal court struck down the District’s handgun ban more than two years ago.

The pro-Second Amendment plaintiffs challenging the legislation assert that the city’s gun laws are so strict that they prevent most law-abiding gun owners from carrying firearms. The NRA is also weighing in, stating the right to keep and bear arms takes “certain policy choices off the table.” “Municipal leaders, no matter how well-intentioned, cannot simply enact any gun control law that they deem to be reasonable,” NRA lawyer Paul Clement elaborated.

And in an interview with CNN, UCLA School of Law professor Adam Winkler put an even finer point on the implications of this case: “This is the most important question in the Second Amendment today. Whether people can carry guns in public and under what conditions is a major battleground.”

U.S. Senate Democrat Leader Pushes Gun Control In Response To ... Bombs

Apparently following the Obama administration strategy of “never letting a crisis go to waste,” U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., on Monday capitalized on Saturday’s New York City-area terrorist bombings to call for more gun control.

“We should close the loophole that allows potential FBI terror suspects to legally purchase weapons,” Reid tweeted on social media, following it up by claiming, on the Senate floor, that his scheme “would prevent the next attack.”

But Reid’s claims are absurd. First of all, the bombings had nothing to do with firearms. Second, the suspect was not named on any “terror watch lists,” anyway. And third, the gun-ban scheme Reid is pushing would gut the Fifth Amendment due process protections at the foundation of American jurisprudence in order to rob the Second Amendment rights of countless innocent Americans—all while doing nothing to stop terrorists, who as we all know couldn’t care less about American laws.

So far in 2016, Baltimore has had at least 650 shootings and 216 murders. Because Maryland already has some of the strictest anti-gun laws in the nation, the Baltimore City Council is now setting its sights on banning the sale of replica and toy guns, the Baltimore Sunreports.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake—who during last year’s riots said she “gave those who wished to destroy space to do that”—made it clear she wants to blame the sellers of fake guns, not those who alter and misuse them, for the crime and bloodshed that sometimes results. As her spokesman said, she wants any legislation passed by the city council to hold “manufacturers and those who are responsible for the point of sale accountable, and not families and especially our children.”

When existing gun laws have had no effect on violence in a city proudly dubbed “Bodymore, Murdaland,” by its criminals, don’t bother asking how a toy gun ban is supposed to slow down the carnage.

Off-Duty NY Court Officer Shoots Robber

As the would-be robber spied his intended victim, he noticed the man was wearing a holster with a gun clearly visible inside of it. But that didn’t deter him. In fact, after the robber pulled out his own gun, he demanded cash from the man as well as the handgun.

The gun should have clued the robber in—his target was an off-duty New York state court officer who ended up shooting the thief in the chest. He later died at a Queens hospital.

That officer is no doubt grateful to have had his gun on him when he was accosted. Other city residents aren’t as fortunate. With former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. Andrew Cuomo leading the charge, New York has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation—another example of political elites being protected by armed security while they fight for laws that leave average citizens disarmed and defenseless.